There are various lifting applications in which commercially available jacks are not suitable. One lifting application which serves as an example relates to the servicing of lawn and garden tractors. A large lawn and garden tractor can weigh as much as 1500 pounds. Care must be taken in jack placement when lifting a lawn and garden tractor in order to avoid damaging the tractor. If the jack engages the outer housing of the tractor, the outer housing is prone to bending. If the jack engages operating components, such as the differential, the differential is subject to cracking. Unfortunately, when the jacks are properly positioned to bear against reinforced areas of the frame they are in the way. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, to drop the deck of the lawn and garden tractor to gain access to belts, and other operating components. A further problem relating accessibility is the height to which the tractor must be lifted in order to permit a man on a creeper dolly to roll underneath the lawn and garden tractor and still have room to work. When a heavy lawn and garden tractor is lifted to a working height, a potential safety hazard is presented in the event of jack failure, or an accidental lateral impact upon the lawn and garden tractor. This stability problem is further exacerbated by the single point contact that the jack has with the object being lifted. There is always a danger of the jack slipping.